She left her little dog in the car for just one work shift. It would be twelve years before she held her again.
Some stories make you reach for a tissue before you even reach the end. This is one of them.
It is the story of a tiny Chihuahua named Flor, a young woman who never forgot her, and a chain of kind strangers across two states who refused to let a dead-end lead stay dead.
It began more than a decade ago, on the north side of Chicago.
Vanessa was going through a hard time back then. She has been honest about it. She told NBC Chicago that there was a period in her life when she “wasn’t put together.”
She moved from place to place. Some nights, her car was her home.
And through all of it, there was Flor.
The little dog was her constant companion. Wherever Vanessa went, Flor went too. When everything else in her life felt uncertain, that small, warm, loyal body curled up beside her was the one thing she could count on.
“Flor was there with me through everything,” she said.
Then came an ordinary day that turned into the worst day.
Vanessa went to work, just as she always did. She left Flor in the car, just as she always did.
When she came back out, the car was there.
But Flor was gone.